My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

ON SUNDAY JUNE 7TH OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH CELEBRATES THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS FEAST OF PENTECOST

Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn of the Feast

Blessed are Thee, O Christ Our God. Thou made the fishermen all-wise, by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them Thou drew the world into Thy net. O Lover of mankind, glory to Thee."

Among the gifts which the one who receives the gift of the Holy Spirit is endowed in the saintly life, when the person struggles to keep God's commandments to the highest degree and to live in purity of soul and body, the married life in Christ within the social customs, the pastoral diaconate in Christ with its many cares, etc. In other words, all the gifts of grace that the Holy Spirit grants. Thus the Holy Spirit "wholly makes up the institution of the Church", which is the Body of Christ.

As soon as the Holy Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit they were full of great joy. It was a new experience for them. While previously they had simply been good men, now they became members of the Risen Body of Christ. They were not confined to worshiping Christ, but they were inseparably united with Him. All who saw them were perplexed, and some mockingly said "they are full of new wine", meaning they were drunk with new wine (Acts 2:13).

The Coming of the Holy Spirit into the heart of man is called by the Holy Fathers of the Church "sober intoxication" (Saint Dionysios the Areopagite). Saint Isaac the Syrian, referring to such states, speaks of the fact that all the person's powers are plunged "in deep intoxication". It is called intoxication because there is great joy and gladness, and it is characterized as "sober" because the person does not lose his senses nor his reason. When a person is taken possession of by the Holy Spirit he remains free, or to express it better, he acquires real freedom, which does not function as a power of choice, as philosophical ethics says, but as natural will, as an overcoming of death. The Holy Apostle Paul writes characteristically: "The spirits of Prophets are subject to the Prophets" (1 Corinthians 14:32). This means that the man who is Prophet is not subject to his gift of grace, but the gift of grace is subject to the Prophet, which is to say that man's freedom is not abolished, nor are the energies of his mind and soul suspended.

Saint Nicodemos the Hagiorite says that there are three kinds of intoxication. First, that which comes with too much wine, which is the cause of many evils. Second, is the intoxication which is activated by the passions. This is the intoxication meant by the Prophet Isaiah when he said "Woe to those that are drunk without wine" (Isaiah 28:1 Septuagint). And elsewhere the same Prophet, referring to Jerusalem said: "hear this, you afflicted ones, made drunk, but not with wine". Third, is the intoxication caused by the Holy Spirit. We meet it in the mother of the Prophet Samuel, who was praying in the Temple very earnestly, and her prayer was noetic, so strong that his son Eli the Priest thought she was drunk and wanted to drive her out of the Temple. And she answered and said that she was not drunk but was pouring her heart out to the Lord (I Samuel 1:14-15).

The Holy Apostles underwent this third intoxication on the day of Pentecost, because then they received the Holy Spirit, discovered the place of the heart, knew Christ better, became members of the Body of Christ, developed a great love and longing for Christ, and this was expressed, as the Fathers explain, by prayer...

"...The Holy Fathers teach that while the Holy Spirit is active in the whole creation and in all people, nevertheless each person partakes of Its energies in accordance with his receptivity. One must have a receptive organ in order to receive the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Saint Maximos the Confessor, referring to this, says that the saints acquire different gifts of grace not by their natural power, but by Divine Power. All the gifts of grace are given by the Holy Spirit but this happens according to their receptivity. The Holy Spirit does not inspire wisdom, nor knowledge if there is no power of reason, nor faith without the nous and reason being informed about the things to come, nor gifts of healing, without natural love towards men. This means that the saints receive the gifts of theology, gifts of knowledge, gifts of healing, if there is an organ to receive this gift.

This is the case not only for the gifts of theology, but also for other gifts of grace. They are called gifts of grace because they are granted by God, but in accordance with the spiritual condition of each person. Saint Maximus the Confessor once again points out that each of the faithful receives the energy of the Holy Spirit according to his faith and the condition of his soul...

"...In reality, through the energy of the Holy Spirit, when the person is made a receptive vessel, the fire of Divine Grace is set alight in his heart. Saint Basil the Great says that there is a real "burning of the Spirit which rekindles the heart." And indeed it is maintained that this burning which illumines sous and destroys the stubble and thorns, was active in the Holy Apostles who spoke in fiery tongues, it shone round the Apostle Paul, it warmed the hearts of Cleopas and those with him, this fire is something which will banish the demons, but also a power of resurrection, an energy of immortality, illumination of the holy souls, support of the rational powers.

So Pentecost was in history once, but it is brought back in the lives of the saints. When the deified attained a state of spiritual life, they share in Pentecost and become apostles of Jesus Christ. Pentecost is the high point of glorification and deification (theosis). All who follow the same journey with the holy disciples arrive at this vision of God and partake of the grace and energy of Pentecost...

"...The Holy Apostle Paul is clear when he says: "those who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God" (Romans 8:14). Not all people who were created by God are children of God, but only those who are led by the Holy Spirit. Sonship is connected with inner noetic prayer: "And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15). The Spirit of God which will be present in the heart of man "testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:16). He is himself a son of God who has the Holy Spirit within him, which testifies with our spirit and confirms that the man is a child of God. However, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our heart is confirmed by the inner prayer of the heart which comes with a cry.

If anyone does not have the Spirit of God in him, he does not belong to Christ, which means that he is not a living member of the Body of Christ. Even if he has been baptized at some time, the grace of Baptism remains inactive, and this man is a dead member of the Church. This is said by the Holy Apostle Paul in an important and revealing passage: "And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" (Romans 8:9). No one belongs to Christ if he does not have the Holy Spirit, with the preconditions which we have seen before. By contrast, if anyone has in him the Holy Spirit, he is really a member of the Body of Christ, since he is not "controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit" (Romans 8:8-9). (Source: The Feasts of the Lord. An Introduction to the Twelve Feasts and Orthodox Christology by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos HIEROTHEOS)

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Please note: It is imperative that we understand that not everyone, according to the Holy Apostle Paul, and Holy Fathers of the Church, is a member of the Body of Christ and/or a child of God if he or she does not possess the Spirit of Christ. The above article explains why not everyone has the same rights in the Orthodox Church since not everyone "is led by the Holy Spirit". We pray for and love all people and supplicate God for the salvation and enlightenment of all people but one must first believe, be receptive, and "has in him the Holy Spirit".

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George